03 Jun 2024

 Botswana has waged a full-scale war to keep at bay any existential threat that may arise due to lab-grown diamonds, says Minister of Minerals and Energy, Mr Lefoko Moagi.

Mr Moagi said Thursday on the eve of this year’s JCK show that ended yesterday in Las Vegas, United States of America.

The diamond show, now in its 31^st year, provides the global jewellery trade community with a platform for business growth by bringing the industry players together to buy, sell, network, learn and discover new ways of doing things.

Therefore, the show is a one-stop destination with a diverse selection of professionals and products that Botswana, the largest producer of diamond by value, can latch onto.

Minister Moagi relayed that the country had not only intensified the marketing of its natural diamonds, but had gone ahead to forge partnerships with world-renowned top-end retailers that once took the synthetic diamonds route, but had since ditched it to support its (Botswana's) position.

“We have managed to lure them and they will be fighting from our corner to tell the world that lab-grown diamonds are not a match to natural diamonds. They will be helping us to tell the Botswana's natural diamonds for development story,” he said.

Also, Minister Moagi said participating in the show allowed Botswana to network and learn from the best technologies and knowledge in the diamond space that future posterity would use even at the end of the diamond era in Botswana. 

He said the fact that Botswana had brought in the services of its chief campaigner, namely, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi to spearhead the campaign, demonstrated the country’s serious approach to the matter.

President Masisi engaged some of the major players including its partners in the diamond space and assured them that Botswana meant business and would pull out all the stops to honour its contractual obligations. 

While in Las Vegas, President Masisi also fielded questions from various media houses, something Minister Moagi said amplified the Botswana natural diamond story and how far their proceeds had and continued to impact Batswana’s livelihoods as well as its flora and fauna. ends